Will the Non-Aligned Worlds' pledge to help Sheridan with
any larger missions extend to his conflict with President Clark? Even
in its diminished state, the combined forces of the Non-Aligned Worlds'
navies would likely be a great asset if the conflict came down to a
direct, prolonged series of battles. On the other hand, intervening
in internal Earth matters isn't what the ambassadors had in mind; they
might balk at sending their ships to die for the cause of overthrowing
Earth's government.

By allowing the White Star fleet to patrol Centauri space
in search of the Drakh (among others,) Londo has given Sheridan
direct influence over the ability of the Shadows' allies to exact their
revenge on Centauri Prime. Perhaps that's the source of Londo's
comment in
"War Without End"
about Sheridan allowing the Shadows' dark servants to slip through to
Centauri Prime; if Sheridan uses the White Star fleet for some larger
mission as he hints he might, it'll presumably be at the cost of
Centauri Prime's defense against the Drakh.

During the conversation between Londo and the Drazi
ambassador, Londo's duplicity is underscored by the staging of the
scene. In most of the scene, two images of Londo can be seen: his
reflection in the mirror or his portrait. The rest of the time
his face is obscured by a curtain.

In the past, Delenn has attempted to preserve Lennier's
innocence (e.g. by trying to leave him behind in
"Atonement.")
But from Lennier's point of view, she has an innocence of her own, and
he sees himself as its guardian.

Neroon may not be betraying Delenn at all; he told Shakiri
the he knew the religious caste's counterattack plans, but Delenn
made no mention of a counterattack. It's possible his departure
was, in fact, all part of Delenn's plan; Lennier wasn't privy to
the conversation between Delenn and Neroon, so he wouldn't know
the details and would be fooled by Neroon's departure.

By revealing how much she relies on Lennier, Delenn may
have given valuable information to an opponent. Neroon was honorable
enough and helped Lennier, and seems uninterested in directly battling
or hurting Delenn (if he'd been interested in that, he wasted several
opportunities while on her ship.) But if Neroon passes the information
along to Shakiri, Lennier may find himself in danger.

Neroon said of the situation on Minbar, "We are a world
gone mad." That's the same thing one of the council members told
Delenn in
"Atonement,"
before declaring, as Neroon did, that the fire would have to burn
itself out and couldn't be stopped. Yet the Earth-Minbari War
did stop abruptly; perhaps the same will happen in this case.

Neroon's comment about loving a good mystery also echoed
"Atonement,"
in which Delenn said to the Grey Council that mysteries are a gift
from the universe and shouldn't be ignored.

The religious caste member said he heard Delenn say,
"The religious caste could not be allowed to win this war." But she
actually said, "The warrior caste cannot be allowed to win this
war. The religious caste cannot be allowed to win either." Was he
simply embellishing a half-overheard comment (e.g. if he only heard
the second sentence up to "win") or did he choose to ignore or lie
about the context?

The religious caste has been the butt of jokes about
surrendering "ever since the war," according to the same religious
caste member. Clearly that can't be referring to the Shadow War,
since they didn't surrender. Does the comment indicate that most
Minbari still consider the Earth-Minbari War to be the major war of
recent memory? Since the warrior caste is the group making the jokes,
the implication is that they didn't particularly participate in the
Shadow War.

The two storylines in the episode can be seen as point and
counterpoint on the subject of deception and secrecy (the title is
evidence that this isn't an accident.) Delenn kept
her plans secret from her compatriots and nearly died with them as
a result. Neroon was attacked for the same reason.
Sheridan kept secrets as well, and asked Franklin and Londo to lie
for him, and it helped his plans come to fruition.

Lennier's deception played into the theme; he kept the true nature
of the sabotage from Delenn, with no immediate ill effect. However,
it's possible that by maintaining Delenn's excessive faith in her
caste, Lennier in fact deprived her of vital information she'd do well
to take into account in the future.

Ivanova held fast to the ideal of truth, but every
other major player in the story participated in some form of deception:
the rebellious religious caste members hid their plot, the League
ambassadors kept their "knowledge" of the new enemy from Sheridan,
and Neroon lied to either Delenn or Shakiri about his intentions.

The Sheridan stuff was fun, in that I got to play
Sheridan as the one being manipulative for a change, smart for a
change...not just Londo or the usual suspects. It made for a nifty
change of pace.

And yeah, Mira brought a lot of truth to this episode...and will
bring even more in next week.

Ivanova looked like she was reading from a
teleprompter.
Yeah, we had Claudia use a teleprompter there to add to the
sense of having to read something...and enjoy the happy-go-lucky
Sheridan...it's the last you'll see of him for a long time....

Lennier seems to be doing more peacemaking than
Delenn. Is he the real bridge between races? Why does the religious
caste follow Delenn?
No, I wouldn't say Lennier is a bridge in any sense along those
lines.

Delenn, you must understand, is a True Seeker, and among the
religious caste there isn't much more admirable than that...combined
with the fact that she *did* fulfill prophecy, she *was* the chosen of
Dukhat, she *did* help end the Shadow War...yeah, she's had some
problems here and there, but what important leader doesn't? Any one of
those items would be a sufficient crown on a lifetime of
achievement...the cumulative effect is quite daunting and impressive.

Are Lennier's patience, humor, and devotion
unique?
No, many Minbari share in those traits.

"Are tears a normal Minbari physical reaction, or is
weeping (for Delenn) one of the changes mandated by her chrysalitic"

We've seen Delenn cry before, when she and G'Kar were in her
quarters and she was explining why she did not get involved in the
Narn/Centauri war.

How did Londo see an Earth sitcom if all broadcasts
to B5 are being jammed?
Easy. The incident Londo is mentioning happened prior to the
blackout. He never said it *just* happened, he said the *last* time
Rebo and Zooty did their routine, everybody was doing it.

Were Rebo and Zooty references to real
people?
No, not intended as tributes to anyone, just a cool sounding
pair of names (but also annoying sounding).